Driving the Day

Good Saturday morning. Kentucky Derby post time tonight is 6:34 p.m. It will be broadcast on NBC. The Gold Cup is also today in Warrenton, Virginia.

THE HILL’S GIFT TO MELANIA — Congressional spouses traditionally give a gift to the First Lady at the annual First Lady’s lunch. This year, spouses asked Illinois Republican Rep. Peter Roskam’s wife Elizabeth to paint the inauguration scene. The paintinghttp://bit.ly/2qDbYVP

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‘TRUMPCARE’ FALLOUT — “It’s ‘Trumpcare,’ and GOP faces political fallout,” by AP’s Bill Barrow and Steve Peoples in Atlanta: “It’s ‘Trumpcare’ now, and Republicans have to answer for it. After dozens of symbolic votes, House Republicans finally pushed through a bill to gut Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, with President Donald Trump hailing the replacement as ‘a great plan’ that has ‘really brought the Republican Party together.’ Democrats are giddy about what could be severe political consequences for the GOP. Even though the Senate still has to act, Republicans now largely own a measure that would curtail, and in some cases take away completely, benefits Americans have embraced after seven years. Chief among them: a guarantee of paying the same amount for coverage regardless of health history. Budget analysts estimate 24 million people would lose insurance over a decade, 14 million in the first year, and older Americans would face higher costs.” http://apne.ws/2pgqsGq

— “Obamacare repeal vote upends 2018 House landscape,” by Alex Isenstadt and Gabe Debenedetti: “More than a dozen senior Republican strategists, lawmakers, and potential candidates expressed varying degrees of concern over the political implications of the health care push. Some predicted that House members would face a fierce backlash from voters, while others said the party had erred badly in rushing through a bill that lacked broad public support. The vote, combined with President Donald Trump’s record-low poll numbers and rising public dissatisfaction with how Republicans are wielding power over the federal government, has produced a cauldron of instability for the party, which is holding onto a 24-seat edge in the House. There is also the weight of history: In every midterm election since 2002, the party in the White House has lost congressional seats.” http://politi.co/2p76YZy

THE ONSLAUGHT BEGINS — HOW DEMS WILL WALLOP REPUBLICANS ON THE AHCA — “Democrats to run ads targeting California’s House Republicans who voted for healthcare bill,” by LATimes’ Cathleen Decker: The DCCC “on Monday will begin airing a drive-time ad on Southern California radio stations targeting five Republican members of Congress who voted Thursday for the GOP healthcare plan. The [six-figure] ad buy, currently scheduled to run for one week on news, sports and Spanish-language stations, is rare this early in the election cycle. … The targets of the ad are five of the seven most vulnerable House Republicans in California — Darrell Issa of Vista, Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa, Mimi Walters of Irvine, Steve Knight of Palmdale and Ed Royce of Fullerton. … ‘That’s the sound of the congressional Republicans’ healthcare plan coming down the tracks,’ the ad says. ‘Get out of the way.’” http://lat.ms/2qavgSB … Audio of the adhttp://bit.ly/2pQQ5kX.

— HERE ARE THE KEY LINES that help understand how Dems will run against this plan: “It will rip health-care coverage away from millions of people. It imposes an age tax on millions of seniors: the older you are the more you pay. If you have a pre-existing condition, it could increase your out-of-pocket costs. Cancer: nearly $73,000 a year. Asthma: $4,300 … Heart disease: $18,000. Arthritis: $26,000. Even pregnancy: $17,000. Millions of Americans will pay more out of pocket, higher drug prices, higher premiums, higher deductibles. Health insurance we can no longer afford.”

— WE’VE BEEN TALKING to top House Republicans about the politics of this plan. Put plainly, there is a lot of concern. The politics around the AHCA are very tricky for the GOP. Many very senior Republicans were extremely unhappy with the celebration in the Rose Garden. The optics, they say, were horrendous. Of course, Republicans say they’ll be able to sell this plan to their constituents. They have promised their base that they would repeal Obamacare, and this makes good on that promise, they say. Midterms are base elections, and this could energize core GOP voters.

— TO BE SURE … — It’s May 2017 — many months before Election Day 2018. The national political landscape can shift a dozen times between now and November 2018.

ALL IN THE FAMILY — “In a Beijing ballroom, Kushner family flogs $500,000 ‘investor visa’ to wealthy Chinese,” by WaPo’s Emily Rauhala in Beijing: “The Kushner family came to the United States as refugees, worked hard and made it big — and if you invest in Kushner properties, so can you.

“That was the message delivered Saturday by White House senior adviser Jared Kushner’s sister to a ballroom full of wealthy Chinese investors, renewing questions about the Kushner family’s business ties to China. Over several hours of slide shows and presentations, representatives from the Kushner family business urged Chinese citizens gathered at the Ritz-Carlton hotel to consider investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in a New Jersey real estate project to secure what’s known as an investor visa. The EB-5 immigrant investor visa program, which allows foreign investors to invest in U.S. projects that create jobs and then apply to immigrate, has been used by both the Trump and Kushner family businesses. …

“Journalists were initially seated at the back of the ballroom, but as the presentations got underway, a public relations representative asked The Post to leave, saying the presence of foreign reporters threatened the ‘stability’ of the event. At one point, organizers grabbed a reporter’s phone and backpack to try to force that person to leave. Later, as investors started leaving the ballroom, organizers physically surrounded attendees to stop them from giving interviews. Asked why reporters were asked to leave, a public relations representative, who declined to identify herself, said simply, ‘This is not the story we want.’” http://wapo.st/2qM1QXO

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WHAT PALM BEACH IS READING — NYT — “When That Feisty Neighbor Becomes the President: As a businessman, Donald J. Trump peppered local officials in Florida with requests, and governments pushed back. Now, some approvals come more easily,” by Michael LaForgia and Steve Eder in Palm Beach: “Since he was elected, officials in Palm Beach County have quickly granted President Trump’s club permission to build a concrete helipad, allowed the club to host a charity event for the Navy SEAL Foundation featuring a staged shootout between some commandos and pretend terrorists, and agreed to assume the costs, for now at least, of closing roads and providing additional security. Behind every decision was a balancing act between a desire to best serve constituents and a political instinct not to anger the nation’s chief executive.

“‘Someone asked me, ‘Do you feel like you’re going to get into a sort of combative situation with the president of the United States?’ Did it cross my mind? Yes,’ said Dave Kerner, a Democrat on the Board of County Commissioners, a panel that has often been at odds with Mr. Trump in the last 20 years.” http://nyti.ms/2qM2hl0

HACK ATTACK — “French presidential candidate confirms ‘massive’ hack days before election,” by Eric Geller in Washington and Nicholas Vinocur in Paris: “French presidential front-runner Emmanuel Macron tried to build a hack-proof campaign with a detailed plan for preventing a breach. It failed. His campaign confirmed late Friday that it was the victim of a ‘massive and coordinated’ cyberattack hours after a large trove of emails purportedly from his political party appeared online.

“The news of the hack — which supporters of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen as well as people associated with the alt-right movement in the U.S. pushed on social media under the #macronleaks hashtag — added a surprise twist to the closing moments of a divisive race. The leaked emails look intended to influence Sunday’s election and aftermath. As in last year’s contest in the U.S. fingers immediately pointed toward hacker groups linked to the Russian government, which has embraced Le Pen. Coming less than 48 hours before voting starts and with Macron up by 20 percentage points in the last polls, it’s hard to predict what impact, if any, it may have.” http://politi.co/2pkEPtW

WHAT DONALD TRUMP IS TWEETING — @realDonaldTrump at 7:22 p.m.: “Wow,the Fake News media did everything in its power to make the Republican Healthcare victory look as bad as possible.Far better than Ocare!” … at 7:29 p.m.: “Why is it that the Fake News rarely reports Ocare is on its last legs and that insurance companies are fleeing for their lives? It’s dead!” … at 7:34 p.m.:“Great jobs report today – It is all beginning to work!”

RUSSIA WATCH — “Flynn was warned by Trump transition officials about contacts with Russian ambassador,” by WaPo’s Greg Miller and Adam Entous: “Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was warned by senior members of President Trump’s transition team about the risks of his contacts with the Russian ambassador weeks before the December call that led to Flynn’s forced resignation, current and former U.S. officials said. Flynn was told during a late November meeting that Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak’s conversations were almost certainly being monitored by U.S. intelligence agencies, officials said, a caution that came a month before Flynn was recorded discussing U.S. sanctions against Russia with Kislyak, suggesting that the Trump administration would reevaluate the issue.

“Officials were so concerned that Flynn did not fully understand the motives of the Russian ambassador that the head of Trump’s national security council transition team asked Obama administration officials for a classified CIA profile of Kislyak, officials said. The document was delivered within days, officials said, but it is not clear that Flynn ever read it.” http://wapo.st/2pRtXFf

— AP’S JULIE PACE: “The outgoing White House also became concerned about the Trump team’s handling of classified information. After learning that highly sensitive documents from a secure room at the transition’s Washington headquarters were being copied and removed from the facility, Obama’s national security team decided to only allow the transition officials to view some information at the White House, including documents on the government’s contingency plans for crises.” http://apne.ws/2p79HSC

CAMP DAVID NORTH — “After the ‘Winter White House’ in Fla., Trump shifts to ‘Camp David North’ in N.J.,” by WaPo’s John Wagner and David Fahrenthold in Bedminster, New Jersey.: “With winter over and Palm Beach’s tanned snowbirds departing for the season, President Trump decamped for a long weekend here at another of his favorite properties: a secluded golf club in New Jersey’s fox-hunt and horse country. In his young presidency, Trump has already spent seven weekends at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, which his staff — and some taxpayer-paid employees at the State Department — have dubbed the ‘Winter White House.’

“In a shift in travel habits, Trump is now expected to head for getaways to this 8,200-person township about 45 miles west of New York City where his daughter, Ivanka, got married and which some here are already calling ‘Camp David North.’ On a dreary, rainy Friday not at all conducive to playing golf, Trump stayed out of the public eye. Even plans to release a photo of him signing a bill to keep the government open through September didn’t materialize.” http://wapo.st/2pgyY86

CLIMATE WATCH — “U.S. Bluntly Rebuffs Queries on Climate,” by Bloomberg’s Jennifer A. Dlouhy and Joe Ryan: “The Trump administration, responding to skepticism about its commitment to the Paris climate accord from China and other countries, bluntly told them that it is putting American jobs first. In a formal response to queries filed with the United Nations, the administration President Donald Trump left little doubt that it is taking a different approach in tone and substance from former President Barack Obama. It said its pro-jobs agenda takes priority and that it would continue to roll back environmental regulations aimed at cutting carbon emissions.

“‘The administration is reviewing existing policies and regulations in the context of a focus on strengthening U.S. economic growth and promoting jobs for American workers and will not support policies or regulations that have adverse effects on energy independence and U.S. competitiveness,’ the U.S. said. The U.S. repeated the same answer nearly verbatim three more times.” https://bloom.bg/2pghvwP

TRUMP INC. — “Pentagon to lease privately owned Trump Tower apartment for nuclear ‘football’: letter,” by Reuters’ Mark Hosenball and Phil Stewart: “The U.S. Defense Department is finalizing a lease on a privately owned apartment in New York’s Trump Tower for the White House Military Office to use for supporting President Donald Trump without providing any benefit to Trump or his organization, according to a Pentagon letter seen by Reuters. The Military Office carries and safeguards the ‘football,’ the device that contains the top secret launch codes the president needs to order a nuclear attack, as well as providing him secure communications wherever he is.

“The White House, Secret Service, and Defense Department had no comment on whether similar arrangements have been made at other properties Trump frequents – Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida and the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, where Trump is spending this weekend. In a letter to Representative Jackie Speier, a Democrat on the House Armed Services and intelligence committees, Defense Department official James MacStravic, said the apartment is ‘privately owned and … lease negotiations have been with the owner’s representatives only.’” http://reut.rs/2pgFvzA

LUNCH WITH THE FT — “Sheryl Sandberg: fighting fake news and Facebook’s future: One of the world’s most powerful executives on the new challenges for social networks and the sudden death of her husband,” by Hannah Kuchler: “When she was young, she thought she would work in government or a non-profit, never a company. What changed? ‘I think when technology happened, that Google, Facebook, these companies have as much of a mission as other organisations,’ she says. Maybe even as much power and influence as governments, I suggest. ‘I don’t know if that’s right. But they have a mission,’ she says. Zuckerberg too has been the subject of more speculation since his letter. Rumours were fuelled when he embarked on a US tour to meet community groups, churches and businesses that appeared remarkably similar to an election campaign trail. Does she think he might run for president? ‘No.’ And you? ‘Nope, I’ve said no.’” http://on.ft.com/2pMsb9I … Sandberg, with co-author Adam Grant, just published “Plan B: Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy” — $15.55 on Amazonhttp://amzn.to/2qaLF9r

PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — “Amazon to open a (real-live physical) bookstore in D.C.,” by WaPo’s Sarah Halzack: “Steven Roth, the chief executive of Vornado Realty Trust, told investors this week that Amazon has leased 10,000 square feet at 3040 M St. NW in Georgetown, a storefront previously occupied by Barneys New York. He did not specify when the store is set to open. Amazon did not immediately return a request for comment. Jeffrey P. Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon, owns The Washington Post.” http://wapo.st/2pRW6vO

SHOW ME THE MONEY — “Georgia special election smashes all-time spending record,” by Elena Schneider: “It’s official: Georgia’s special election will be the most expensive House race in U.S. history. Candidates and outside groups have aired or reserved more than $29.7 million worth of TV ads in the race to replace HHS Secretary Tom Price in Congress, which will break a five-year-old record for House spending — highlighting the outsized importance a sliver of the Atlanta suburbs has taken on in national politics.

“It is plainly more money than one House race out of 435 needs. Cash is flowing in at such saturation levels that Democrat Jon Ossoff’s campaign had the money for everything from Korean radio ads to free Lyft rides for voters on primary day. The Atlanta NBC station has even bumped reruns of ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ from their regular slot in order to extend its local newscasts and make more room for political ads.” http://politi.co/2pkhNn8

THE LOYAL OPPOSITION — “Democrats tackle the ‘big rebuild’,” by Gabe Debenedetti: “The [DNC] headquarters remains mostly empty, devoid of almost any senior staff. It has a new chairman, Tom Perez, but there’s still no executive director. There’s a completely new organizational chart, but the gutted political, finance, and tech offices remain in search of new leaders. In other words, the DNC is showing signs of life after a long period of dormancy, but progress is slow. And it’s about to get more painful as Democrats prepare to embark on a delicate round of group therapy sessions — otherwise known as unity commission meetings — that could reopen intraparty wounds from the Bernie Sanders-Hillary Clinton presidential primary fight.

“In private conversations with fellow Democrats, new Chairman Tom Perez describes the precarious situation as trying to repair a plane that’s already in the air. The committee had been largely neglected by party leadership in the final years of Barack Obama’s presidency. After an email hack and leaks that intensified charges that the DNC favored Clinton over Sanders, Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz was ousted in July, forcing the committee to undergo a high-wire transition in the middle of the campaign.” http://politi.co/2qNOwkV

PODCAST DU JOUR — “The Meaner Bill: How the working class will get the short end of the stick in the American Health Care Act,” by Slate’s Jacob Weisberg: “Weisberg talks to the surgeon and writer Atul Gawande about the AHCA and why its passing would be a catastrophe for the very people that vote.” http://slate.me/2qNCwQG

VALLEY TALK — “Facebook wants to launch its big attack on TV next month — here’s what we know,” by Business Insider’s Nathan McAlone and Alex Heath: “Facebook has kicked its push for TV-like shows into high gear and is aiming to premiere its slate of programming in mid-June, multiple people familiar with the plans told Business Insider. Facebook plans to have about two dozen shows for this initial push and has greenlit multiple shows for production … [T]he social network had been looking for shows in two distinct tiers: a marquee tier for a few longer, big-budget shows that would feel at home on TV, and a lower tier for shorter, less expensive shows of about five to 10 minutes that would refresh every 24 hours.” http://read.bi/2qLN976

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MEDIAWATCH — “Ryan Grim to leave HuffPost for The Intercept,” by Hadas Gold and Joe Pompeo: “Grim, the Washington bureau chief of HuffPost, is leaving the site to become Washington bureau chief of The Intercept. Grim, one of the original HuffPost staffers in Washington, helped herald in the era of original reporting for the website. He’s been with HuffPost for nine years.” http://politi.co/2qNX7UY … HuffPost editor Lydia Polgreen’s memo to staff about Grim’s departurehttp://bit.ly/2pgwDKt

ALI WATKINS to POLITICO – Carrie Budoff Brown and Paul Volpe email the staff: “We’re thrilled to announce that Ali Watkins, who covers national security and intelligence for BuzzFeed News, is joining POLITICO as a national security correspondent. Ali is one of Washington’s most talented young journalists on the beat and has delivered consistently impressive coverage of the investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 election.”

–“Sputnik denied permanent congressional credentials,” by Hadas Gold with Daniel Lippman: “The Congressional Periodical Press Gallery committee has denied Sputnik, a Russian state-owned news website, a permanent congressional press pass. Sputnik has the opportunity to appeal the decision … According to the gallery rules members must not ‘act as an agent for, or be employed by the Federal, or any State, local or foreign government or representatives thereof.’ … Meanwhile, Laura Ingraham’s site LifeZette was approved for a press pass on Friday.” http://politi.co/2pQB5n4

GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman, filing from the Montpelier Summit (at James Madison’s Montpelier house) in Orange, Virginia:

–“Agent of Fear,” by BuzzFeed’s Daniel Wagner: “How a federal agent got away with terrorizing his Brazilian ex-girlfriend — even as she repeatedly begged the U.S. government to stop him.” http://bzfd.it/2pRel4p

–“He convinced former CIA operatives he was one of them. Was he an impostor?” by WaPo’s Ian Shapira: “He’d killed 38 people, Mark W. Levin told co-workers at the Daniel Morgan Graduate School of National Security, and ran a squad of covert operatives called ‘The Watchers’ who prevented terrorist attacks. … Those who worked with Levin at Daniel Morgan — a fledgling school that offers graduate programs to aspiring spies and diplomats in downtown Washington — did not investigate his credentials. He had convinced former CIA operatives and national security veterans that he was one of them.” http://wapo.st/2q44Ba4 (h/t Longform.org)

–“How to Raise an American Adult,” by Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) in WSJ’s Review section, in an adaptation of “The Vanishing American Adult: Our Coming-of-Age Crisis—and How to Rebuild a Culture of Self-Reliance” (out May 16): “Many young Americans today are locked in perpetual adolescence. Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse on how he and his wife are encouraging their own children to become fully formed, independent grown-ups.” http://on.wsj.com/2pR3sll … $17.67 on Amazonhttp://amzn.to/2pkFED9

–“The Itch,” by Atul Gawande in the June 30, 2008 issue of The New Yorker: “Its mysterious power may be a clue to a new theory about brains and bodies.” http://bit.ly/2q44Ku8 (h/t Longform.org)

–“The Accidental Get Away Driver,” by Paul Kix in GQ: “How one man drove right into the center of a daring and dangerous crime.” http://bit.ly/2pM4X3X

–“‘My body shall be all yours’: the startling sex letters of Joyce, Kahlo and O’Keeffe,” by Holly Williams in The Guardian – per ALDaily.com’s description: “Sex letters. James Joyce sent them. So did Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz. Proust sent one to his grandfather. In the age of Tinder, does the sex letter have staying power?” http://bit.ly/2qJFkhx

–“Can Anyone Repair National Lampoon’s Devastated Brand?” by Benjamin Wallace in May’s Vanity Fair: “Over the past 15 years, three devotees of the comedy institution have attempted to restore the humor brand to its former glory. What happened instead was direct-to-video movies, lawsuits, crippling debt, and two prison sentences.” http://bit.ly/2qwPyVS

–“Sold for Parts,” by Michael Grabell in ProPublica: “One of the most dangerous companies in the U.S. took advantage of immigrant workers. Then, when they got hurt or fought back, it used America’s laws against them.” http://bit.ly/2p2iVQj(h/t Longreads.com)

–“The Love and Terror of Nick Cave,” by Chris Heath in GQ: “For four decades, Nick Cave has been at the edge of music, putting his spin on everything from punk rock to lovesick ballads—much of it with his band the Bad Seeds—assembling a body of work that is astonishing for its range, power, and feeling. Then unspeakable tragedy and grief had their way with him, and his music had to change yet again.” http://bit.ly/2qJSBa1 (h/t Longreads.com)

–“Constructing the Modern Prince,” by Razmig Keucheyan in Verso: “For the first time under the French Fifth Republic, neither of the two main parties (the Socialists and the Republicans) managed to reach the second round of the presidential election. What does this change in French politics represent, also taking into account the particularities of Marine Le Pen and the dizzying rise of Emmanuel Macron?” http://bit.ly/2qJFSUD (h/t TheBrowser.com)

–“Look back with danger,” by Simon Goldhill in the Times Literary Supplement:

“Today’s constant talk of nostalgia – for old passport covers, old manners, old food, and above all that fantasy of a Britain before multiculturalism – is in part a response to rapid social change and feelings of insecurity. These nostalgic images are a shoddy replacement for any sophisticated understanding of history, and that is why we should be worried when politicians play the nostalgia card.” http://bit.ly/2q45JKQ

–“Where oil rigs go to die,” by Tom Lamont in The Guardian: “When a drilling platform is scheduled for destruction, it must go on a thousand-mile final journey to the breaker’s yard. As one rig proved when it crashed on to the rocks of a remote Scottish island, this is always a risky business.” http://bit.ly/2pdVj74

–“India’s Silicon Valley Is Dying of Thirst. Your City May Be Next,” by Samanth Subramanian in Wired: “Bangalore has a problem: It is running out of water, fast. Cities all over the world, from those in the American West to nearly every major Indian metropolis, have been struggling with drought and water deficits in recent years.” http://bit.ly/2pM0Y7H

–“The future of football,” by Spencer Hall in SBNation: “Everyone at every position has gotten larger over time. If football’s evolution involves mitigating the massive forces exerted on players, require players to bring less mass to the party. Allow teams to have as many people on the field as they like, but limit the total weight to 2400 pounds.” http://bit.ly/2q3RXYk

— Washington Times’ “Mack on Politics” weekly politics podcast with Matt Mackowiak (download on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher or listen at http://bit.ly/2mGabdq: New York Magazine’s Gabriel Sherman … Garrett Graff, author of the new book “Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself–While the Rest of Us Die”. The episode posts Sunday night.

****** A message from JPMorgan Chase & Co.: What are essential inputs for creating lasting impact in our communities? Learn more about how the JPMorgan Chase model for impact is driving inclusive economic growth in the company’s recently released Corporate Responsibility Report. ******

The host of TYT Network's nationally-syndicated Bill Press Show (Monday-Friday from 7-9am ET), Press attends the daily White House press briefing and writes a weekly column for the powerhouse politics website The Hill.